The price tag of the so-called Skopje 2014 project has risen to EUR 560 M, up from the initially announced EUR 80 M, an investigative network has argued.

In a report published Monday, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) has unveiled the results of its eight-month investigation which includes data procured through Macedonia's Access to Public Information Act and a host of official documents.

Skopje 2014 was envisaged to include some 40 monuments, sculptures, facades and nu buildings - a number which has tripled in the past months, BIRN explains, putting the number of publicly financed objects within the project at 130.

There are many buildings yet to be finished, which "fuels suspicions" the final price tag could additionally rise.

"The costs of security and maintenance are constantly sucking up more funds from the state budget," the network notes.

There is a single construction company which earned some EUR 163 M, or roughly a third of all the public money spent on Skopje 2014.

Authors of monuments and sculptures, on the other hand, were given hefty fees for their work sometimes surpassing millions of euro.

This comes against the backdrop of a political crisis in the Southeastern European nation where unemployment was around 30% in 2014 and GDP and where the government's democratic credentials have often been questioned by opposition, activists and foreign diplomats alike.

Authorities, however, are yet to comment on the allegations.

BIRN's article is available here.

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